Poetry in motion at new showcase

North Lanarkhire’s well-versed poets will be celebrated at the brand new Rhyme & Reason exhibition.

Wordsmiths from across the region will evoke plenty of emotion as they give contemporary accounts of personal and community events.

These will include a harrowing mining disaster, a traditional Pig Killing Festival and a stirring curling match which all “inspire eloquent and colloquial verse in our bards”.

Mourn with their misfortune, rejoice in their victories and enjoy their humour as they regale audiences at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre with rhythmic tales of life’s ups and downs over the next couple of months.

A series of events and activities supporting the exhibition begins on Saturday with a Bookbug session for kids aged up to four-years-old from 10.30 am to 11am; poems, songs and stories from North Lanarkshire Archives and a talk by archivist Wiebke McGhee from 11am to 12pm; and an informal tour of the exhibition with local studies officer Margaret McGinty from 12.30pm to 1pm.

Then, on Friday, September 27, A Daurk Maiter – a play set against the looming Udston Mining Disaster of 1887 – will be held at 6.30pm.

Described as “funny, gritty and shocking”, the entertaining play centres on the blossoming-but-doomed love affair between two working class poets, Ellen Ballantyne and Charlie Carmichael.

October 12 will see a creative writing workshop with award-winning poet Carly Brown; suitable for adults of all experience levels, this event gives visitors the chance to “use the poems and artefacts of the past to inspire your own poetry in the present”.

Finally, on November 7, a learn to read old handwriting workshop will take place from 2.30pm to 4pm; entry cost is £3, which includes materials for use.

The exhibition will also feature works by local poets from the Piston, Pen and Press touring exhibition of working class poetry funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Children’s activities, such as feathers and quills for writing and a magnetic poetry board, will be on offer and Saturday activities include crafts, like weaving, and a Victorian school workshop.

To reserve seats for the performance of A Daurk Maiter, or to find out more about any of the events taking place, call 01698 274590 or email HeritageCentre@ culturenl.co.uk.

The Rhyme & Reason exhibition will run at North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre every Monday to Saturday until November 9 to “honour poetry in North Lanarkshire”.